karatemom2

Thank you both for saying this. Many of these young people performing on cruise ships are professionally trained musical theatre talent fresh out of their college BFA programs looking for a place to launch their careers in a setting that provides a good income and a chance to do what they love and what they TRAINED to do. It is awful for anyone to disparage them. These are talented young people who have worked hard and deserve respect. My daughter and her husband have a number of friends they trained with in college performing on cruise ships right now and they are awesomely talented kids.

The Disney comparison is a bit unfair as they can draw off all of their fully formed Disney movie storylines and aren’t having to pay to license content they already own, or have to create new original content and music which is expensive and difficult. Why do you think even Broadway is defaulting to so many jukebox musicals? We are musical theatre fanatics. My daughter and her husband are both singers and actors and we regularly see professional productions in both LA and New York. I do not expect this level on our cruises and yet still generally enjoy the shows for what they are, with the understanding that they are not theatre productions. Princess does a decent job - not great. NCL has better entertainment in my estimation and uses a professional company (Jean Ann Ryan) for their talent and shows. They do have more theatrical shows with shortened versions of musicals like Jersey Boys and Six. So they have demonstrated it can be done, and done well. I thought Princess might be on that track when they collaborated with Stephen Schwartz on a couple of shows, but unfortunately that didn’t really go very far. I don’t travel on Princess for the production shows - they are just a nice part of the equation. While I would love to see them elevate the theatrical quality and offer more Broadway style shows, I don’t expect it and wouldn’t want it if it raised the price of my cruise. I would rather go to a real Broadway show on land. For onboard entertainment the production shows they offer are fine, some better than others, and all very dependent on the level of talent of the singers and dancers on a particular ship. If you go in with reasonable expectations of what the shows are - elaborate variety shows - and what they aren’t - Broadway musicals, you will likely not be disappointed.

You will be at Berth 93 for your departure so will be going through the nice terminal building which is definitely more pleasant and roomy. Being in the green lane should make your boarding process quicker and easier, so as to arrival time it really depends on how important it is to you to be on the ship early and perhaps have lunch in the MDR. Emerald will be at Berth 92 that day as well, so there will be lots of people getting off the two ships and lots getting on. It will be busy. If you are keen to avoid the cross crush of people leaving and arriving, Noon or later may be less hectic. However, if you want to be on the ship earlier, you can certainly arrive at 9:30 - 10 a.m. with the understanding that it will be a bit more crowded. Just be prepared to be patient.

This is good advice - the rainforest hikes near Ward Cove and Ward Lake are beautiful and free and easy to do on your own. I like Totem Bight better then Saxman - it's a gorgeous area near the beach on the same road you take to get to Ward Lake. You might consider renting a car from Ketchikan Car Rentals - it's so easy to explore on your own that way and very cost effective. We have rented from them a number of times and it is great to have your own vehicle there.

Here is the thing about rain in Alaska - it comes and goes and it is just part of the experience. We have cruised in Alaska in May, June, July and August and while it is true that July and August are wetter, it has never made the experience any less enjoyable - you just work through it. We like to hike, so I do wear waterproof boots because I prefer to have dry feet but I don't bother with anything else waterproof including my backpack. My go to outfit is turtleneck, fleece pullover and jeans - maybe a hat and gloves if it is cold. If it rains, I always carry the disposable hooded plastic rain ponchos in my backpack to help keep me dry until it stops, and then I can take them off and throw them out. I like them because they are lightweight and easy and go over my backpack to keep it dry too. One of the best excursions I ever did was in Ketchikan and it was very rainy. It was a zipline tour in the rainforest - and it operates rain or shine. We got pretty wet, but it was exhilarating! Rain or shine, Alaska is the best!

If you ever happen to find yourself in Cabo San Lucas on one of your cruises, check out the Sand Bar on Medano Beach. Some of the best massages I have ever had and it is $36 for a 60 minute massage! I always tip $20 and they are so thankful. It's well earned - such an incredible deal for a wonderful massage with the sound of the waves in the background and the nicest ladies providing the service!

It is almost a certainty that Princess has some guidelines related to crew, staff, and officers fraternizing with guests. I would assume that would probably prohibit the behavior you described, in particular serving alcohol to an underage guest. You did the prudent thing by reporting what your son shared with you. Now that you have done so, I would expect that you need to allow Princess to handle it according to their HR procedures, which likely do not include reporting back to you in any additional way other then they already have in thanking you for sharing the information and letting you know they will act on it. This will likely involve a full HR investigation - it may be something that takes several weeks and involve contacting others for their comment, perhaps including the women involved. Employees have a right to due process and also confidentiality. You may never know the outcome and it is not something Princess would share. Every cruise line, and every business for that matter, have policies and procedures that need to be followed and inevitably, as is illustrated by the very disturbing current story about an RCI crew member, there are legal protocols that must be followed. No cruise line will want the potential liability of someone who may be crossing boundaries that could lead to legal or even criminal issues. I trust Princess will do what needs to be done.

Completely agree. Princess spa prices are quite high compared to what you would pay for similar services on land, even at many resorts. The 18 % is definitely adequate and I would feel no need to tip additional. I am actually glad they made it a mandatory included charge, because it removes that extra step of me having to sit there and figure it out.

No afternoon tea would be a huge disappointment for me. It’s one of the things I love about our Princess cruises. I really hope they don’t extend that to other ships.

Yes, $10 per person.

I’m generally a fan of the spinach and cheese ravioli, DH likes the beef tenderloin, and my daughter is partial to the salmon. Some of our favorite starters include the antipasti plate, chickpea soup, and shrimp and avocado appetizer.

Yes. If you don’t have a package there is a shipping charge of $10. Well worth it in my opinion to get it in advance and save time at embarkation, but you don’t have to get it shipped. You can pick it up at the port.

You may also bring flowers on the ship that you purchase in Hawaii. There was a vendor at the port in Hilo that we always purchased from - it was usually our last port stop and they lasted the full 5 sea days back home. You just can’t bring them off the ship when you return to LA

Well as someone who used to travel with my kids quite a lot, I’m not sure I’m the best person to respond. 😅 They are adults now but I always made sure they behaved. Yes, during school breaks you will find families traveling on Princess. However, they have an excellent program for children and keep them well occupied. However, if that is a big concern I will say that our HAL cruise had very few kids. My daughter was a teenager at the time and there was only one other young girl her same age and just a handful of younger kids. I will say, in general, the one way itineraries like the Sapphire is doing attract less families so you probably wouldn’t find a lot of kids, but definitely probably more than HAL.

Well given this is the Princess Board my guess is that you will overwhelmingly get support for the Sapphire option. That would definitely be my choice. I love the Sapphire - one of my favorite Princess ships. We did one Alaska cruise with HAL on the Amsterdam because of the incredible itinerary. It was a great cruise because of the itinerary, but not so much the ship. It was a little too low key for us and we found the food disappointing compared to Princess. But mostly it was just so quiet in the evenings. We would walk down the hallway at 8:30 pm and see so many rooms with the breakfast cards out on the door already. We aren’t exact party animals, but we do enjoy evening activities, music, and entertainment. My DH also enjoys the casino which was quite lackluster. Thankfully they had an incredible piano player who became our go to nightly entertainment which helped make our evenings more enjoyable. Princess, in my opinion, also does a better job with the Alaska nature and cultural information which always enhances an Alaska cruise. Given how active and engaged you both seem I think you would really enjoy Alaska on the Sapphire. But I would encourage you to ask this same question on the HAL board to get a balance of opinions.

In general, I think people who take the time to comment here are fans of Princess. Many have a lot of cruises with Princess and keep coming back because they like the product. So here on the Princess board you find the true blue! You can count me among that group, although I don’t think Princess is perfect or above critique. However, being a fan of the product likely makes me more forgiving of certain shortcomings and more tolerant when things are less than perfection. The people just stopping in to leave reviews may be less loyal customers and therefore more critical of even minor issues. Just my theory on why you might notice a more complimentary vibe here on the Princess board.

We park at the San Pedro cruise terminal so I can’t comment on the Princess transfers - it seems some people are reporting difficulties with the process. We have always had good experiences with Princess transfers when we have used them in other ports. But, to your comment about the transfer bus being able to drop people at their departure terminals at LAX, I just want to clarify that taxis, Ubers and car services can do that as well. The requirement for taxis and ride share services to use the shuttle lot only is strictly for arrivals not departures. So the OP could use a taxi or other service and still be dropped off at their terminal.

Just a note to say that if you are playing in the Casino, you should be choosing to do so because you find it fun and entertaining- win or lose, comps or no comps. DH would play Craps whether it netted him any cruise benefits or not because he really enjoys it. The cruise perks are a nice added benefit. Whatever game of choice - slots or table, ultimately the odds are not in your favor. You will likely invest more than you net, so ultimately you are paying for the benefits you might receive in cruise credit. If you go in understanding that and have fun playing as a source of enjoyment then you will be less frustrated then if you are always chasing a win or a comp.

Based on your preference for not being cold or wet, your best choice is probably mid June to early July. As Coral points out, May is lovely in terms of lack of rain, but it can be pretty chilly. Our warmest and dryest trips have been in mid to late June to early July. I remember one over July 4 where it was so warm on our day in Glacier Bay that people were admiring the scenery poolside in swimwear. Late July, August and into September, we see more rain and as it gets later in the season it gets colder as well. We love every time of the Spring/Summer cruising season, but for your weather priorities it would seem June, maybe early July is your best bet. No guarantee though - it’s weather so not fully predictable.

Depending on what time you leave the ship you will find taxis coming through dropping people off for the next cruise. Some people do start arriving as early as 9:30 a.m. You might be able to catch a ride that way if you don’t need to be on the road earlier. You don’t mention what day of the week you arrive in San Pedro, but it makes a very big difference in terms of the traffic you will encounter which directly impacts the cost of a taxi. Weekend traffic tends to be significantly lighter and your transit to LAX will be faster. If it is a weekday you are likely going to encounter heavy morning commuter traffic on the 405 and it can take much longer. The savings over using the ship transfer may not be as much as you might imagine and at least that is a guaranteed ride that is there, ready and waiting to take you regardless of how disorganized it might be. It removes the worry and hassle of you trying to figure out on the ground when you disembark and are trying to navigate without phone service. Your other option is to prebook a car service or shuttle with one of the many local vendors who provide the service, but that is likely to cost just as much or more than the Princess shuttle. If you can’t figure out a cost effective way to get phone service, I think you would be wise to stick with the Princess transfer.

I like the new design with the brighter blue and sea witch pattern in the background.

Not always. I’m glad you had a good experience. We were in the Dec 30 sailing, arrived at approximately the same time and waited an hour in the blue lane line while my daughter and her husband basically walked right on through the green line. So experiences vary - ours was a very full holiday sailing and the blue lane line was moving so slowly that they kept intermittently stopping the preliminary line for the metal detectors and carryon scanning. Your mileage may vary depending on the crowd volume and number of people who are picking up medallions as opposed to those who already have them. We will always get them shipped from now on to hopefully avoid a similar situation in the future at any port.

ISP is a great port for kayaking if you can do your whale watch in Juneau. Ketchikan also offers some good kayaking options.

You and my DH would be fast friends. You are exactly the type of player with whom he enjoys playing Craps. He certainly has many stories to tell about some of the behavior he has witnessed by highly inexperienced, drunk, or even belligerent players over the year. As they say “it’s a crap shoot” but entertaining for sure! 🤣

Priority boarding yes once you are through your check in process via your assigned lane. There is no longer a Suite or Elite line at check in. The best way to ensure expedient boarding is to get in the Green Lane and have your medallions shipped so your check in process is easier and you pass through to boarding more quickly.